Fill in the Blank Tuesday

I got this idea from The Curious Pug's blog. 

I am a mother, and a daughter. Sensitive, sentimental, and compassionate.

The bravest thing I've ever done was give birth to my daughter 100 % naturally with no painkillers, induction and only a midwife and nurses present.

I feel prettiest when my hair is messy, my eyeliner is still on from the day before, and I am wearing bright colors.

Something that keeps me awake at night is mistakes I've made in the past.

My favorite meal in the entire world is impossible to decide! My tastes change all the time and I love cooking and trying new things, so I can't say that I have only one favorite! I love cooking vegan; Indian, Mediterranean and Italian are some of my favorites.

The way to my heart is through kindness towards others and an open mind.

I would like to travel, find love again, have more children, create art, write children's books, own a house with a flower and vegetable garden, get involved more in politics, touch and improve the lives of as many people as I can.

Did You Know...Crayola's Favorite Color is Green!

So I went grocery shopping today. amidst all the food stuff I was desperate for some new crafty thing, so I stopped in the school supplies aisle and picked up a pack of Crayola Colored Pencils. As I was reading the package I learned something; Crayola is eco-friendly! Apparently Crayola colored pencils have been made from reforested wood since 1987! That's even before green was the new black. They also use solar panels and recycled plastic! 

Did you know... their solar panels provide enough power to make one billion crayons each year?

                    ... their use of recycled plastic in markers keeps hundreds of tons of plastic out of landfills each year. To learn more about the Crayola Eco-Evolution, click here.

It really makes me happy to know that companies are trying to be respectful of the planet. As a crafter, I use a lot of consumable products, which isn't very "green" of me. So when I come across something like this, I want to show my support!

What do you do (if you are a crafter) to be "green"? Any other eco-friendly brands that you would like to share?

Birthday Photos!

I never actually posted photos from my birthday yet, so here they are:

 My Vegan Birthday Cake!

 Lila in her cute strawberry outfit and me!

My birthday present to myself! Thank you to Kaylah of The Dainty Squid for blogging about these awesome Sally Hanson Salon Effects nail polish strips! Aren't they amazing? So much cheaper than actually going to a salon, and I can say I did it myself! (I love saying that)

I also want to give a special shout out to the Etsy Blog Team (EBT). It is a great way to get connected with other bloggers and ask any questions you might have about blogging. You can join here.

Happy weekend everyone!

Are we losing our democracy?

I have to say a word about what's going on here in Madison, WI. Its not Egypt, but we are on the national news (CNN) today because the public school teachers are striking all over southern Wisconsin. There is also a rally in the State Capitol full of people. The reason for this behavior is because our new Governor Scott Walker is threatening to pass his "budget repair bill" that will take away collective bargaining rights, in other words eliminate unions. So the state workers are rallying and the public school teachers are on strike. CNN claimed that the teachers here are taking paid sick days for this strike, but that is untrue! I am living here in the middle of it, both my parents work for the state, and the school system is demanding that teachers report, and if they don't they do not get paid.It makes me so angry that CNN in lying.

- If this bill passes the state will be paying significantly less for health insurance and retirement, so that money will be coming out of state workers salary.

- We will lose our ability to fight this because Walker will eliminate unions by taking away the right of state employees to collectively bargain.

- In the Capitol, Walker is refusing to budge, and the legislature is supposed to be voting on the bill today but (thankfully) the democrats have refused to show up. So as long as one democrat does not show, they cannot vote on this bill. No one is budging. 

- In the papers, you can see that most the protesters are willing to give up some of their benefits to help the state's budget, but they feel that cutting their collective bargaining rights is going to far. I agree.

If you agree, I would appreciate you sharing this post with others who might agree! I usually am not very politically motivated, but the fact that this is happening right in my own city and the media is lying about it, just makes me want to get the truth out!!

This is our Capitol right now:

 Here is a link with more info:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12498249 

Thanks everyone.

**I don't claim to be an expert on politics, or to know what the solution to our problems are, I just have a strong belief that people deserve to know the truth and everyone should be treated fairly!!**

Its My Birthday!

Ha!

I am totally not above telling everyone its my birthday!! Why not?? 

Anyways...

So far it is a very relaxed day here, my daughter kept me up all night and now she is sleeping soundly... so when she wakes up, my Dad and I (and she) will go out to brunch! I just can't wake a sleeping baby, even on my birthday! 

So, while I wait, here are some things I want to do before my next birthday:

-Learn how to crochet & knit

-Start watercolor painting again

-Clean out my storage locker

-Plan for the future

-Visit my extended family and stay in contact

-Take a dance class

-Reclaim my indentity

-Finish my scrapbooks

-Paint unpainted furniture

-Remember other people's birthdays

-Cook more, especially vegan

-Have a job (I wish etsy counted, but it doesn't)

Taking a look back, this year has definitely been the most life-changing year of my life! Of course it was, because I had a child! But a year ago today I never would have seen myself here. NEVER. Last year if you had told me that in a year I would get pregnant, break up with my boyfriend, leave Milwaukee, leave all my friends, give up dancing,  move in with my parents and have my baby, I would have asked for some of what you were smoking. (Except maybe for the boyfriend part, because I wasn't happy with him even then.) But now here I am! And I am sooooo much better than I was last year. I am so thankful for everything that has happened because it was all meant to be!

Here's Proof:

(If you want to give me a really great present, I'd love some more followers!)

Happy Valentine's Day (late)

I was so busy doing amazingly spontaneous and romantic things yesterday that I had absolutely no time to post in my silly blog. Actually I had a doctor's appointment and spent the rest of the day reading other people's blogs. It was a great day!

I did witness a cute thing at the doctor's office yesterday. While I was waiting for my ride, a man came in and started talking to me about my daughter (whom I was holding). He told me that he had four kids and several grandkids, and he wished he could have skipped the kids and gone right to the grandkids. Anyway, as we were talking a woman came out into the waiting area, and he said "Well, since your here!" and I thought perhaps he was a patient of hers or something, because she looked very stunned and unimpressed to see him. Turns out she was totally surprised because he was her husband of 36 years surprising her on Valentine's Day! He brought her a gift, and she ran out and kissed him (while someone else in the waiting room yelled "get a room") and it was very sweet. It certainly brightened my day.

I did have a nice dinner with my family. My Dad and I cooked dinner, and my Mom made dessert. For dessert we had:

A tray of yummy goodies and...

Chocolate Fondue!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Musicals

I have a crazy obsession with musical theater. I absolutely LOVE musicals of any kind! My favorites are:

The Phantom of the Opera - I love the romantic and tragic character that you can't help but feel sorry for- and can't we all relate to getting swept off our feet by that sexy bad boy phantom, who masks (no pun intended) his dangerous nature with intense passion?

Chicago - Not quite as romantic, but equally passionate and very fun! I love burlesque dance and jazz, so this is an excellent musical for me. Plus all the stars in the movie really make it happen. who knew Catherine Zeta Jones could move like that!? Who knew Renee Zellweger could sing!?!?

The Producers - It took me a few times to watch this before I really liked it, because the style is so unusual- it's like trying to be old-school but with a lot of modern humor. But once you get used to it, it is delightful! You must prepare to be offended, however!

Cats - Who would have thought to make a musical out of this? A book of poems by T.S. Eliot! Truly unique and creative, another great piece of work by Andrew Lloyd Weber. The performers are all so talented in this too, with the amazing costumes, singing, dancing, and cat-like behavior.

Guys and Dolls - Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, enough said! Plus the lyrics are just genius. My highschool did this musical, and luckily I hadn't heard of it before then or I would have been highly disappointed. Ya just can't top Frank and Marlon.

The Damn Yankees - No, not the band. My cousin played one of the lead roles in this musical in high school, and I've loved it ever since. Amazing music and dancing! Some of my favorite songs to sing in the shower. [Insert baseball metaphor for life here]

Evita - Another beautiful, tragic story with characters that are fascinating and extraordinary music. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I LOVE the movie with Madonna! She is just great in this role!

Rent has a special place in my heart, because it came out at a time in my life when I really needed to be reminded that there is No Day But Today. I made a treasury today in honor of that movie, and my love for bohemian style. Check it out here!

What are your favorite musicals?

For the Love of Socks

I absolutely love cute socks! Here are some fun ones from modcloth:

I have a thing about socks. I love cute socks. But I never match them. It started as an occasional thing I did accidentally, then I stopped caring and now it's just habit! I was once asked if I mismatched my socks in an effort to resist conformity, and I said "no I just don't like sorting laundry."

It makes me sad that people who do things differently are so often assumed to be doing it just to make a statement or "resist conformity" can't we just be different because its fun?

Phew!

Today was a tough day. I had a long conversation with a person I'd rather not speak to, and it was tense and stressful. But I came out feeling stronger.

Some good things that happened today:

My baby smiled at me a lot

I got inspired to create several new cards (not posted yet)

I got a postcard from a friend in France

I ate fresh baked cookies

I made a new treasury:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d5366cd6e536d916433ccd4/hawaii-bound?index=0

My baby is sleeping right now!

The sun was out

That's all for now, hopefully tomorrow I will have a longer list.

Goodnight all!

 ~Miss M

Life is Beautiful

I know things are going well when its February and I can say that life is beautiful. Usually this time of year I am holed up watching reruns of Law & Order and playing the Sims and refusing to go out with my friends. Does anyone else have this reaction to the last months of winter? 

However this year I am feeling inspired to enjoy every minute of life, to live my dreams and follow my heart. Becoming a mother really does things to you! 

In honor of this great feeling of inspiration, and because I've been discovering so many challenges that bloggers are doing and I really like the idea, I am starting my own challenge! Since I have never done this before, I would like some advice and suggestions before I post it. Have you done a challenge before? What have you learned about them? What is good motivation for participation? Anything besides prizes, because I don't have a lot of money to spend on that.

I really appreciate any suggestions, I will give you credit when I post my challenge blog! 

Also, I happened upon the "critique games" team on Etsy, and there was a forum with treasury challenges, where you comment on the person's treasury before you, then they give you a theme to create your own treasury. The theme I got was "there's an elephant in the room". It's the first treasury I've ever made! Take a look! You should check out the team if you haven't already, its lots of fun!!

(I'm trying to rise above all this forum vs team drama because I am relatively new to Etsy, and I don't have a strong opinion. However clearly some people have very strong opinions, and I totally want to respect that. That's all I have to say about that.)

Peace, Love, & Beauty,

Miss Merryweather

New Listings!

Hi Everyone!

I have a couple announcements to make!

First off, I have several new listings in my shop! I know I said I was going to make confetti, but I'm gonna have to put that idea on hold because I don't have any cute containers to package it in...yet.
So I made some awesome cards! Tell me what you think! And more are on the way soon!

 These are all for sale in my Esty Shop

Second announcement, I created a new blog in which I will write about more personal stuff, mostly about my daughter. I love to share things with people who are interested, but I do want to keep my Etsy stuff somewhat separate. I changed my mind, and decide to keep all my posts i one blog. Much easier!

Lastly, I happened upon this adorable video on thecuriouspug's blog, and I just had to share it! Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Lila Rae

Greetings!

I truly believe that the universe only gives you what you can handle. Every soul on this earth is destined to experience a certain amount of challenges and struggles in their life, but I believe it is based on what you are programmed to be able to handle. After what I have been through since becoming a mother, I believe this more than ever.

My daughter was born on November 23, 2010 and 8:30 in the morning. She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz, which wasn't a surprise because I only gained about 18 pounds during my pregnancy. The day she was born, the pediatrician in the hospital did the routine eye exam, and noticed that she didn't have a "red reflex" in her left eye. That means when she shined a light in her eye, she wasn't getting the red glare reflected back, like you see for example in pictures taken with a flash. 

The next day the eye doctor came to our hospital room, and gave her a closer exam. It turned out she had a congenital cataract in her left eye. This is a gray mass that was blocking her vision in that eye. The doctor said it was not genetic, and not due to trauma, just one of those random things. Huh. He also said that she would have to have surgery to remove the cataract within the next month. 

So when my baby was 10 days old, we went to the hospital, where they gave her general anesthesia that knocked her out, and she had cataract surgery to remove the cataract. After about an hour and a half of waiting, I got to see her in the recovery room, where she had a shield over her eye. Thankfully the surgery went well, and the cataract was removed successfully. She had to wear the shield for a couple weeks after the surgery, and we had to give her three eyedrops four times a day. 

After about a month, when her eye was completely healed, we had to start patching her right eye, the good eye, to encourage the left eye to get stronger. Even though the cataract is removed, she will have a tendency to favor her right eye, so we have to put a patch over her right eye for one hour every day. She also has a tiny contact lense in her left eye, which makes up for the lense in her eye that was removed during the surgery.

If this isn't all random enough, my Mom just happens to work as a nurse in the pediatric eye clinic, and has been there for over 35 years! So she knows all the doctors and knows the procedure for this kind of thing inside and out. How ironic is that! I feel really lucky though, that we have someone so close who can answer all those questions and make sure Lila gets treated like the VIP that she is!

So now Lila is 10 weeks old, and I have to give her one eyedrop twice a day, and patch her right eye for one hour a day. considering she often isn't awake for a whole hour at a time, this can be tricky. But I try not to get discouraged because I know it is important for her vision, and it is my responsibility!

She always gets cranky when we put the patch on at first, obviously because she can't see as well...

Then usually she gets drowsy and falls asleep...

We just went to the eye doctor last week, and Lila got her vision tested and they said that everything was right on track! So I am very thankful for that. Phew.

Great Stuff!

Good afternoon!
It is sunny and snowy here in Wisconsin... 

Lila had a pediatrician appointment today, her two-month check up. All is well but she had to get three shots which was very painful, for her and for me! Her face got so red and she held her breath for a few seconds -- it made me cry! I'm sure I'm not the only parent who reacts this way?!

Anyways, she is sleeping well now so I am taking advantage of this opportunity to get some stuff done! I am working on some cards with fun printed papers - very springy looking stuff. I also ordered some stamps that shipped out two days ago, so I am hoping they will arrive today! 

Who doesn't love free stuff? 

MadebyJacqueline is hosting her first "blog candy" giveaway! The winner will be drawn when she reaches 150 followers, so take a look! For details on how to enter this giveaway, check out her blog, and good luck! http://www.madebyjacqueline.blogspot.com/ 

I have to say this blogging thing is very cool, I wish I had 15 more hours in the day to spend reading everyone's blogs. I just love the atmosphere, everyone is so friendly and interesting, I just love artsy people! Thank you for being one of them! :)

Thoughts at 3 am

First  I want to say thank you to Della, who told me about craftcult.com and Etsy Minis! I set up a gadget for both on my blog which may be unnecessary, but I figure it will be useful once I post more items for sale.

And thank you to everyone who has commented on my post, and who are now following me! This is very addicting (I guess that's why I'm doing it at 3:10 am after feeding my 2 month old) and lots of fun. 

I hope I get time to work on stuff tomorrow (technically today). I have been wanting to make confetti to sell on Etsy, in various shapes. I have tons of paper I don't use and I have the hole punches... so I figure why not? Not sure if I should categorize it under supplies or handmade though, since it is technically both... probably supplies right?

My First Post

Hi there!

I am writing this as my two-month-old daughter is laying on her back in her crib, wide awake and looking around. Anything I do on etsy happens in those in-between moments while I am taking care of my daughter. I am still working on time management! But I feel really lucky to be able to spend my days with my daughter.

My etsy shop is:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissMerryweather

I currently have only Valentine cards for sale, but I plan to add many other greeting cards in the near future. I just discovered a scrapbook superstore in my city and it is amazing. I can't wait to make more stuff! I have to force myself to stop making Valentines because I'm afraid I won't sell more than15. But they are so fun to make!! 

We just got about a foot of snow here, maybe more...and honestly I wish I was a kid so I could play in it! Remember the days of pure imagination and creativity, where you could play for hours with a cardboard box? Sometimes I wish  I could do that again. I totally want to build a snow fort and an army of snowmen!

Well that's it for my first blog post! Thank you for reading!